The Flower and the Butterfly

The Abandoned School - Part 3

Kneeling amidst the battle, my head throbbed, along with the powerful blows I took; my thoughts seemed to haunt me, a past I wish to forget continued to torment me.

-"Don't worry, everything's fine, now I'm here!" But a voice in the midst of that great pain brought me calmness; Shinobu appeared to save me. I looked at her with eyes full of admiration as I slowly got up, feeling dizzy. I held my sword with all the strength I had, but a doubt arose in the middle of the fight.

-"What... are you doing here?" I spoke with fatigue in my voice, incredibly, not because of the battle.

-"That doesn't matter right now, let's take care of this guy, we'll talk later," said the petite woman as she focused on the demon.

-"That's right, that's right. Now there are two, hahaha! Kekki jutsu: acid saliva." The demon was the first to launch his attack, the same move that had superficially hit me before, but now it didn't work again, as both of us easily evaded it. The dizziness in my mind gradually subsided, although the pain remained.

-"Insect Breathing, Third Form: Fukugan Rokkaku," Shinobu said, launching an attack from her breathing technique, a series of sequential strikes on the oni's body, but the darned creature was more alert this time and managed to dodge everything. He knew that if he took the hit, he would have to sever the affected limb due to the poisoning, making him more susceptible to new attacks. He chose to retreat, leaping to the opposite end of the room and using the wall for leverage to attack with full force. He aimed at Shinobu, so, as he didn't focus on me, I tried to attack him myself with a regular strike, but the oni noticed and evaded, then moved away again, not even the second attack from the Insect Hashira reached him.

-"This won't work... we need a strategy..." I commented, even though I wasn't very good at planning.

-"Wait... let me think," said Shinobu, assuming a defensive stance. This oni has immense strength. With a few attacks, I already felt tired... If Shinobu gets hit by more than two attacks, even while defending, I feel the damage will be serious, I thought, concerned.

-"Hey, hey, don't just stand there, come on, attack me, don't be afraid, little girls," the oni said with an apparently open guard. But that was clearly a trap, even I could see that. And, because the demon noticed that we wouldn't attack first, he wiped the smile off his face and sighed, looking around and remembering the boy he used as bait at the beginning of the fight... His smile returned, more malicious than ever.

-"I know what to do now..." He lunged forward before either of us could react, but not toward us, but toward the boy. He grabbed him by the arm with one hand and strangled him with the other. Desperation took hold of me. We needed to do something immediately, but Shinobu remained still, thinking of a plan.

-"Come on, come on, if you stay still, the little boy will die... I'll give you 5 seconds to come at me. If you stay still, I'll kill this boy," the oni spoke, certain that he would carry out such an act without hesitation, as he had done it before.

-"Kocho-san, tell me you've already thought of something!" I spoke with clear desperation in my voice, preparing my nichirin for an attack, just waiting for a signal.

-"Wait..." said the woman, seeming confused and also somewhat desperate, but trying to stay calm amidst it all.

-"1..." The oni began counting.

-"Kocho-san!" I couldn't muster the same calmness as my partner.

-"2..."

-"Wait... let me think..." the Hashira seemed to grow irritated with the situation.

-"3..." Shinobu was probably even more desperate than I was, even though she tried to hide it. Damn it, Mitsuri, think, what can you do...

-"4..." That's when a spark of an idea came to the smaller Hashira, who pulled me by the arm and whispered something in my ear. It was a plan she had thought of amidst that great desperation. After she finished explaining, I rushed forward with an attack, aiming to make the oni let go of the child, just like in the plan.